A New HTPC

[enjaytee88]

Here's one I have been keeping a secret for a wee while now.



It's a ASRock Core 100 HT. DVD version, the £170 extra for the BD Rom version wasn't worth it as I have one I use for ripping in the desktop PC.

It is a marvellous little power house. OS is Win7 and I use a Keysonic BT keyboard with it.



Replaced the buggie and slow Linksys 2100 Extender.

Now I can stream bluerays with no lag or stutter


Running TMT 3 on it to get to MyMovies.

The way to go in main screen connectivity, IMHO. Plays everything, streams from net. Wife friendly too.



Panny screen is recent too. 50in G20 Plasma. Not made up my mind about this one yet. It doesn't appear to be as good as the 42in Panny it replaced.

[northan]

Why keep it a secret, looks really good enjay.
Whats the fan noise like and does it pump any noticeable heat out when being taxed?

What really got my eye was that beautiful THX logo on the front panel, could have done with out the dvd logos maybe and a slot loading optical would make that look the dogs bollocks. The gloss front looks great, does it pick up fingerprints easily?

[elootos]

Niiice!

defo the way ahead for multiroom htpcs; grab a mini one and get full pc functionality.

[enjaytee88]

(11-26-2010 08:26 PM)northan Wrote:  Why keep it a secret, looks really good enjay.
Whats the fan noise like and does it pump any noticeable heat out when being taxed?

i3 processor runs at like 20% on an hd movie play back. Has 4gb ram so I that helps program load times. Runs slightly warm at full tilt, nothing compared to the heat monster above it - the Onkyo AV amp. So it is hard to guage really
Fan noise it zero on idle, and only slight when on start up and normal use.

What really got my eye was that beautiful THX logo on the front panel, could have done with out the dvd logos maybe and a slot loading optical would make that look the dogs bollocks. The gloss front looks great, does it pick up fingerprints easily?

Yes, THX and True HD is the main reason I bought it.
Looked at the Acer Eezbox net pc before this one, can't get a BD version with gb over here (according to my local dealer) plus I wasn't sure if it did True HD.
Thought the 330 Ion version was underpowered and 2year old tech.

Gloss black does mark but I never need to touch it. All movies are network accessed.
It is used as a whole family internet pc now so it saves me fining c**p all over my office pc .

I would highly recommend one. They are dear though and I dare say an hand bulit one would be cheaper.
Plus they need an operating system, I already had a copy of Win 7 sitting for a laptop that died and was replaced with one already on Win 7 so I didn't have that outlay.

[elootos]

Just Googled for your little 100HT and it sounds a fab machine from the review.

Would I have an attic based Media Center machine again? Probably not. Definately keep the server up there but everything else would be a mini PC.